Nothing Human
by Acidbuk
Summary: Suzuka, tries to come to terms with her feelings for Gene, while they deal with evil corperations, deadly robots, pirates, amerous arms dealers and just about everything else inbetween.
1. Chapter 1: Nothing Human

**Title:** Nothing Human (Suzuka Secrets rewrite)

**Author:** Acidbuk

**Rating:** PG-13 (one very naughty word and sexual implication)

**Disclaimer:** Outlaw star and its characters belong to Sunrise and a whole bunch of other people who are not me so lets all be nice and not get lawyers involved. That said I make no money out of this and do it for fun.

**Chapter 1: Nothing Human**

Suzuka Knelt on the Balcony, sipping some of her tea, looking at the sunset and Twilight gave in night, it was true that twilight was indeed her favourite time of day. Gene Starwind came over and threw himself down next to her, resting his arm on his one knee as his Red hair flickered slightly in the wind.

"Beautiful isn't it", Gene Idly commented.

Suzuka simply nodded and took another sip of her tea; it had been a month now since the Lay-line incident a month since Gene and Melfina had declared their 'feelings' for each other. Suzuka often wondered why Gene harboured emotions for the Android. That's all she was to Suzuka, although a good copy she wasn't human. She wasn't flesh, and blood and bone, she was titanium, steel and fibre optic wires, never human, nothing human.

"So Gene, what's it like fucking the doll?" Suzuka spoke bluntly, no hint of malice or hurt in her tone after all to Suzuka Melfina, was an "It" not a "her", she didn't need to consider 'Its' Feelings at all.

"What?" Gene asked irritated as his eyebrow raised the vein on the side of his head throbbing visibly.

"Don't deny it Gene, I've heard you and It late at night, it disturbs my comforting silence", Suzuka never referred to Melfina as a person but merle an object, it wasn't that she did not like the android. It was certainly pleasant enough to look at and talk to but it was still just a robot. Gene clenched his teeth and started to grind them resisting the urge to hit the woman next to him and throw her off the balcony.

"Why do you hate her so much? You'll hurt her", Gene asked looking up at the sky as twilight started to be claimed by night.

"Yes she does have elaborate programming to allow her the illusion of emotion, but that's all it is Gene, Programming. She doesn't have Blood running through her, she has wires, instead of a brain she has a core AI, she's Artificial - a machine, and elaborate one certainly I would even go as far to say Advanced but still a machine. To answer your question Gene I do not hate it, I am indifferent to it, I look at my chair and I see a chair, I do not feel anything for the chair anymore than the chair feels for me, if it is a good chair I may say 'this is a good chair. I do not hate the chair or like the chair the chair simply is" Suzuka stated sipping more of her tea and pouring herself and Gene another cup.

"So I ask you Gene, if you care to satisfy my curiosity, why do you have feelings for it", Suzuka said with no contempt in her tone.

Gene sighed any anger he felt towards the blue haired woman now gone and said; "its because… she looks like her".

Suzuka raised an eyebrow of course she instantly knew whom Gene was talking about though it surprised her for him to admit it so freely. Suzuka knew he was without doubt talking about the very person that gave Gene the crash course to become an outlaw, heck he named the Ship is named after. In Person Suzuka had never met 'her' but, she knew of the woman through reputation. As hard as stone, fast as a C'Tari and strong as a raging ox, forged in the fire of a volcano and burning with the fire of a thousand suns.

"I keep thinking that maybe part of her is alive in Mel", Gene spoke when Suzuka didn't say anything, too caught up in her own thoughts. "Perhaps maybe that part of Her is still here with me, Mel looks so much like her", Gene added looking away unable to meet Suzuka's piercing gaze.

"I see" was Suzuka's only response to the admission, though she _wanted_ to hold him to show how much she truly cared about him, _wanted_ to show him that he wasn't alone, but all shoe could muster was an 'I see'. It seemed so inadequate but she couldn't bring herself to say anything else, the words jumped at her but she just couldn't get them to come out. For someone who worked on logic and reason like Suzuka everything about Gene Starwind was illogical, he defied convection.

Suzuka looked out at the sun as it dipped below the horizon, both sat in silence as the stars began to twinkle. Each time she killed, it took away part of her and she had been quite void of feeling for sometime now. Her master once told her to never take a life unless you really want it because once you do everything about it belongs to you, everything it was, everything it ever would be and it cannot be undone. '_You are who you kill Suzuka, never forget that', _the words of her master and trainer echoed in her mind.

She had tried to harden herself to it, freeze her heart in ice, and wrap it in unbreakable chains it had turned her into the best of course, no one matched her skill. However still the memories haunted her, the faces of those lives she had taken cut short with her blade. The faces, the screams the horror and blood, in the quiet, in the dark she remembered them all. She accused Melfina of being an, "it" a Doll, a machine a thing with only a facsimile of emotion, a facade of feeling but was she so different?

Maybe that was why she disliked Melfina, it was because Gene Starwind could love the machine but not her. She blinked hard as that realisation hit her like a brick to the face.

It was true that Gene had changed her, for the better. She had come to Sentinel III to kill Fred Luo on the behest of another arms dealer, but Gene had got in her way, she had underestimated him and he had beaten her but instead of finishing her off like she expected Gene showed mercy on her. In doing so her life now belonged to him and she hoped that maybe she during there travels perhaps she could repay her debt, to protect him from dangers that even he perhaps did not know he was facing.

She had told him that, she stayed because she found him unusual and interesting, a mere curiosity but the truth was far more than that. The truth was that for some inexplicable reason this Red haired rouge outlaw with a bad attitude had started to melt the ice and break the chains of he own making. She felt safe for the first time in years, in the quiet of the night the voices stopped, the screams dyed down and the faces in her dreams were less. She found that amongst these good people she could sleep soundly. She smiled to herself even Aeisha had grown on her.

She eyed him as he had shifted position to the other side of the balcony, he was cleaning one of his many guns. She smiled to herself again, it was the quiet moments they shared that she liked most. When Gene wasn't fighting bad guys, having sex with hookers of causing massive amounts of collateral damage. When they were just sat in the quite in comfortable silence with each other. He would always raise to a challenge, even when it was bigger than he was, especially when it was bigger them him, he would never back down and never retreat even if there was no hope of winning. He had one told her that _"it doesn't matter if I die, if I accomplish my goals but die doing so. I still win"_ it was one of those memento about him that impressed her, she remembered what her master had once said

"_The true test of strength is not how hard you can hit Suzuka, but how hard you can get hit and still continue to fight" _the words echoed in her mind. She could think of no words better to sum up Gene Starwind.

He was a good person but he had storm in his heart, that much was certain and it would slowly tear him apart. Though she had not met him until later, she knew that he had loved Hilda and that they had been lovers. That much she had got from Jim when she had asked about their past, perhaps in another world, another time things may have been different, but they hadn't and her death had hit him hard. Jim had even told her that at first Gene had resented Melfina. Maybe it really was because she looked so much like Hilda, all-be-it much younger and with no eye patch, Suzuka couldn't say for certain.

The realisation that maybe she did love Gene Starwind was not one Suzuka came to easily, but with it made one question stayed on her mind as she listened to the squeak of cotton on gunmetal as Gene continued to clean his weapon. The question running over her mind again and again on infinite loop - why would he want her when he had his doll?

Gene Starwind finished cleaning his weapon, she could not identify the weapon it looked like some kind of heavy calibre pistol as he put it back together she slid the magazine into place pulling back the slide to chamber a round before holstering it.

"I'm going to head to bead Suzu" he said stretching while smiling at her in that 'Starwind way' that she was sure melted a dozen girls on as many planets.

"I think I will stay out here a little longer" she said glancing over at him.

"Okay, but don't stay out too long, don't want you catching a cold" he said as he kissed her on the forehead and made his way inside.

(000)

Gene Starwind moved into the building and headed to his room. He pushed open the sliding door and entered Melfina was already inside undressing for bed, standing there topless she raised her arms up to cover modesty. "Hey!" she said with a blush that made her look like a Tomato

"Its just me" he said with a grin, eyeing Melfina up and down.

"You could knock", she said lowering her arms and continuing to undress.

"It's my room" he countered.

"Our Room" she said with an infection grin.

"Okay, _our_ Room" he said.

"Now close our door I'm sure you don't want the others to see me naked, do you Gene?" she said with a slight giggle as she pulled down her panties.

"The thought had crossed my mind, if only so they know what they are missing out on" Gene replied with a smirk.

"Gene Starwind!" Melfina said with a mock pout. "Behave"

Gene grinned as she shut the door and watched her get into bed before undressing himself also and getting in between the sheets and Melfina snuggled up to him laying her head on his chest.

"So no nooky?" he asked.

"No" she said trying to sound firm but with a mischievous tone. "You wanted to flash my naked body to everyone in the Apartment", she added.

"Only because they'd be really jealous" Gene said in amusement.

Melfina tried hard to keep a straight face and firm look but couldn't as she moved to straddle Gene with her knees either side of him;. "Well, I suppose a little nooky might be good" she said leaning down to kiss him

(0000)

Heifong city was, unusual in many ways, the city never really slept there was always something going on, where it was production in the factories by automated machines or the neon draped gilded skyscrapers of the casino district. Heifong was extremely diverse. Even at 3am. In the adjoining building to Starwind and Hawking something was happening.

"This is alpha dog to pack, Copy" came gruff male voice of a man in what was some sort of exo-skelital body armour system complete with NBC mask and Thermal vision.

"One Copy"

"Two Copy"

"Three Copy"

"Four Copy"

"Fire Copy"

They each said in turn, some were men, others were clearly women, which you could tell from the tone of voice but also by the distinctly different looking armour that fitted the form of the commandos.

"Sniper in Position" said a man across the street in an abandoned office floor holding an impossibly large rifle that fired a 17.7mm armour-piecing incendiary round.

"All Pack members. Go. Remember we need the princess alive, lets keep this clean and tight", Alpha said as he prepared the rope to sail down the side of the building with the others in his 'pack'. They slowly made there way down the building coming to Gene Starwind's window.

"This is Two, I have visual ID on the princess"

"Three Confirms"

The five soldiers moved as one with Alpha taking a device off his utility vest and attaching it to the window the hummed gently as a red beam shot out the sides and rotated around several time scoring the glass. Then another stronger blue beam cut right through it creating a nice man-sized hole that the soldiers pushed through detaching there equipment ropes and raising there rifles. Silently they pointed at Melfina and Gene one of them grabbed Melfina with a hand over her mouth to stop her screaming as they dragged her out the gloves of the power-suit giving off a sleep gas that knocked her out. She was then loaded onto one of the repel lines and hoisted up to the roof

Gene woke up with a fright as one of the soldiers caught his foot on a door

"What the…" Gene yelled.

"Gas now!" Alpha commanded and three uses a Sleep Gas Grenade, the gas flowing out into the room filling it with a yellow haze. _So much for easy_

Gene reaching under his pillow and taking out the double barrelled sawn off shotgun and firing both 12-gauge rounds into the chest of one of the soldier. He fell back full force into a wall but the body armour did its job but the shotgun ignited the latent sleep gas causing a fireball that sent the soldiers back, blew out the windows and gene through an adjoining wall landing on Jim bed, much to Jim's Surprise. As 'two' and 'three' moved forward and fired two orange pulses from their rifles at Gene and Jim dropping them with a thud before they could react

The Soldiers gathered themselves and got up.

"This is Four, Package is secure on roof, Extraction requested" came the voice over the radio as they had hoisted the unconscious Melfina up the robes. Suzuka burst into the room, since the door had been blown off its hinges, sword at the ready. Bringing her Botaku down, Alpha rotated his rifle so that the Carbonate buttstock took the blow, which he then parried away. Quickly pressing a button on the rifle to extend a six-inch blade from the side of the Barrel Cover outwards.

Suzuka recovered and moved to side swipe aiming to cut the man in half, however he rotated his weapon again this time so the newly extended blade took the impact and parried the strike so he then brought the stock down onto her foot. Suzuka gave a yelp as the Carbonate stock connected with her foot. But that was nothing compared to what came next as before she could recover to land a third hit the stock of the weapon was already up and heading towards her face at full speed. The impact sending her sprawling over hunched in pain as the stock was then mercilessly brought down upon the back of her head knocking her clean out. Alpha shot her again just to make sure.

"I will never mock Bayonet classes again" he said just before Aisha burst through the wall barely having time to react as she pounced claws first toward him. He did the only thing he could do. He dropped onto his back just before she reached him using the rifle as a leverage pole he kicked his feet up into her stomach and sent her flying through the window. There were screams and soft "meows".

"I thought this was a non-lethal op sir?" Two asked about the woman he had just kicked out of the window.

"She's a C'Tari. She could take a fall three times this without serious injury", Alpha replied as the sound of low flying jet engines seemed to radiate nearby. "Guess that's our ride out, lets get out of here" he said as he reattached his rope lines and climbed back up to the roof with what was left of his team closely behind. The aircraft was quite elegant despite its boxy design it did have a number of flowing curves, which narrowed and tapered towards the front, it was black and silver and bore the 'Arc Tech' Logo on the side in the midsection. It came to a hover as its jets rotated so that the exhausts were pointing downwards. The aircraft descended to the roof without touching down the rear ramp opened and the soldiers embarked one of them carrying the naked Melfina over his shoulder.

"Easy Money" Alpha said with a grin as he took off his mask helmet unit and strapping himself into the seat as the aircraft took off again, and was gone.

(0000)

For Gene Starwind, waking up was a gradual process like booting up a computer. First there was the awareness of warmth, then the awareness of something cuddled up on him, which he naturally assumed was Melfina. Then came the physical reactions that actually led to him opening his eyes. Though he felt like he had downed a case of Saurian brandy.

Gene Starwind awoke to the bustling sound of Heiphong; it was the sounds of the big city he had come accustomed to over the past few months since moving to the busy neon gilded metropolis. The first thing Gene noticed was that he was not in his bed. The second thing he noticed was that he was naked, neither of these things was always bad in fact for Gene they tended to happen on a regular basis until recently.

The third thing he noticed was Jim curled up on him. Gene blinked. Gene blinked hard. Gene screamed, loudly.

Jim woke up with a startle sitting up on reflex as the sound of Genes screams disturbed his sound slumber. "What, what the hell is going on" his head was throbbing and his vision was hazy as he tried to make out the world around him. When he did he wished he hadn't as he let out a shrill cry. "GENE WHY ARE YOU IN MY BED NAKED!""

"I don't know!" Gene said honestly. "I thought you were Melfina!"

"You thought I was Mel! What do I have Dark hair and great boobs now?" Jim yelled indignant "How the hell do end up in my bed naked!, did you get drunk off your arse on Saurian brandy and Forget which room Mel was in so you just pick one at random?" Jim yelled; "And while we are on the subject why is there a hole in my wall! I've told you again and again to stay away from the caster gun when you drink and now you put a god-damn hole in my wall!"

"Look Calm down Jim" Gene tried to placate, the fog still making his thoughts hazy.

"Calm Down? Calm Down! You are _naked in my bed_ How the hell am I supposed to be calm about that_"_ Jim's eye twitched.

Suzuka had woken somewhere in the middle of this exchange and entered the fray through the hole in the wall, blushing as she saw the naked Gene Starwind standing there defending himself against a clearly freaked out Jim Hawking. Suzuka coughed to announce her presence.

"What do you need Suzuka?" Gene said standing there not even bothering to cover his modesty, until he actually realised he had modesty to cover he then quickly ducked down behind Jim's Bed.

"Haven't you defiled my bed enough Gene" Jim said folding his arms.

"Do inform me when you two are finished so that perhaps then we may go to find Aisha and discover the fate of Melfina", Suzuka said matter of fact. To Gene it was suddenly as if the fog was lifted truly he had been to busy and distracted trying to placate Jim that his mind never even focused on the nights events, then it all suddenly hit him. The armed goons, Mel, the explosion caused by the gas.

"Melfina!" he said standing up again baring all to Suzuka and making her blush.

Gene stepped through the hole in the wall into his room that looked like a hurricane had hit it. Papers were everywhere, shelves were collapsed, cupboard doors were blown off, some of the walls were charred and there was a large hole in the wall as well as the glass in his window being completely blown out.

"Jesus" He said, even though Gene was not a religious man. "Melfina!" he shouted.

There was no reply.

He called again, and again there was no reply. Gene Starwind walked the entire Apartment searching room by room. There was no sign of his beloved Melfina or Aisha either for that matter. There was a knock at the door and Gene, still buck naked rushed to open in he tried to hide his disappointment but failed when he opened the door to only find a battered looking Aisha.

Gene sighed and went back to searching the Apartment.

"Fine don't ask how I am, jerk" she said.

"Holy Crap, are you okay Aisha?" Jim asked as he and Suzuka walked down from the upstairs area.

"I've had better wakeups" she said. Jim winced looking at her, she was pretty banged up, a black eye, she walked with a limp and had numerous cuts and bruises all over and that was just the parts they could see.

"What the hell happened?" Jim asked.

"I got thrown out of a window" she said; "any sign of Mel?" Aisha asked looking around. Jim and Suzu shook their heads in reply.

"Any idea what happened to her?" Aisha asked.

"None" Gene said from the kitchen. "She's just. Gone. Vanished. We searched the Apartment and she's not here, there were men here. Last night, do you think they took her?" Gene asked finally.

"I am hesitant to jump to conclusions however, it seems like this may be the case. These men were skilled and highly trained, if they did indeed take Melfina it is likely they were working in the employ of someone hiding in the shadows for what purpose I cannot say" Suzuka said. Suzuka looked off into the distance thinking back to her fight with one of them and how he had bested her. There was no excuse - she was slowing down, her time here had dulled her skills. She would need to fix that.

Meanwhile Gene simply paced the kitchen over and over again, slowly wearing a trench in the tiling, "why the hell would they take her. She hasn't done anything. She's not valuable. She has no enemies" Gene said working himself up into a panic attack. Of course none of those were strictly true, she was the maiden of the lay-line that made her valuable and she was the girlfriend of Gene Starwind, Gene knew he had plenty of enemies who would hurt her just to get to him. Plus Melfina had plenty of her own enemies in the K Pirates. That said though these men did not look like Pirates, there tactics were too clean, too focused and they lacked that Pirate smell they looked more military than Pirate's for sure, there equipment from what Gene could remember looked high end too.

Maybe Fred would know it, Gene froze in his pacing, that wasn't a bad idea. Maybe Fred _would_ know he was an arms dealer or maybe he could at least point him in the right direction. Gene shook his head he would need more than just vague half-arsed memories he would have to at least try and dry the weapon.

(0000)

Meanwhile Jim had taken Aisha to the bathroom, where he was tending her wounds with a washcloth and some water mixed with antiseptic. He pressed the cloth gently against her skin over one of her cuts and she winced.

"Sorry", Jim Apologised.

"Don't worry about it. I've had worse", she distinctly remembered being shot several times with Genes caster gun and near charred to a crisp. C'Tari C'Tari were hardy it was part of there genetic code, part of there culture – The C'Tari C'Tari had a broad back able to carry the weight of the world on it.

"I just feel sorry for Gene" she said, wincing again as Jim applied more water to her cuts forcing him to mouth another apology.

"Why do you feel sorry for him?" Jim asked curios as he continued. Jim was more worried for Melfina that feeling sorry for Jim. Especially after waking up to find Gene naked in his bed.

"To lose your life mate is a sad thing Jim" She said.

"Life Mate? They are not married Aisha" Jim replied almost amused at the thought of Gene Starwind married.

"What is this Married?" Aisha asked curious, even though she live amongst humans now many of their customs and culture was still a mystery to her.

"Marriage, its…well when two adults love each other they have a ceremony, exchange rings and vows saying that they will stay with that person for the rest of there lives. Or at least until they get divorced", Jim Explained; "Its supposed to be about affirming your love but its more about economic and legal benefits today than anything else" he added.

"What about your people?" he asked.

"We don't have Marriages, we have Life Mates, every C'Tari in there peak will find a life mate, for procreation and continuance of the tribe assuming of course they are genetically compatible" she explained.

"Genetically Compatible?"

Aisha nodded; "Genetics are important to the C'Tari, two genetically strong mates will produce a strong litter, a strong litter is good for the tribe and what is good for the tribe is good for the C'Tari. A Weak litter will cause the tribe hardship"

"What about love?" Jim asked.

"Love", Aisha said, turning the word over in her head.

"You know that feeling inside that you just know that person is right for you, that you can spend your life with that person and be happy", Jim said.

"Love happens sometimes, Life mates can be in love, or lean to love their partners but often Life mates are chosen for genetic strength than emotions" Aisha explained.

"That's kind of sad, what about if two C'Tari want to marry because they love each other but are not genetically compatible?" Jim asked.

"Then they are disowned by the tribe and exiled from the C'Tari empire, A weak litter brings hardships for the tribe and the parents. The good of the tribe is above the good of the individuals within the tribe and the C'Tari as a whole"

"You exile them out of your space too?"

"Of course, if they were permitted to stay they would be a bad example to future C'Tari, others may try and follow as they do, leaving only weak litters, the tribe would collapse and our enemies would crush the C'Tari Empire in our weakness. This cannot be allowed" Aisha paused; "Joining's do happen for love alone sometimes but they do so and know they bare the consequences of that choice."

"That's incredibly sad Aisha" Jim said looking down.

"That is how it has always been for the C'Tari" she said simply.

"How do C'Tari perform a joining?"

"The two to be joined stand before our Paragons in the halls of our ancestors and before our tribe. The Keeper provides the Chalice of the Ancestors, each to be joined sips the sacred water" Aisha explained, using her hands to explain vividly much to Jim's amusement "then they each use a ceremonial dagger provided by the keeper of the clan to cut the palms across and draw blood. The two then clasp palms together and recite the blood vows." Aisha smiled.

"They are joined for life after that, no C'Tari will ever take another mate even if one of them dies. The other will remain a lone mate forever in mourning for there loss of there mate", she added.

"That's a lot more elaborate that human customs. I think I know why it means so much to you", Jim said with a small smile.

"Thank you Jim", Aisha said.

"For what?" he asked.

"For letting me explain a about C'Tari culture, ever since I left the Embassy I've not really had the chance to tell anyone about our people for a long time. Thank you for giving me that" she said as she kissed him on the forehead causing him to blush a shade of red so deep you could land aircraft by it.

(0000)

Jim walked down from the bathroom after seeing to Aisha into the Kitchen area almost expecting to find Melfina but then he remembered she was no where to be found. On the floor lay a shattered glass, a few it looked like actually and a bottle of bourbon on the counter. Gene was sat there on a stool staring out into space.

"Gene, are you ok?" Jim asked hesitantly

Gene looked up; his eyes flaring with rage and Jim immediately knew he had said the wrong thing. "Am I ok? Oh I'm just dandy. The woman I love has been spirited away under my goddamn nose in the middle of the night and I have no clue or leads' who, where or even why she was taken but no, no I'm just awesome Jim. Thanks for asking" Gene stated sarcastically.

"I didn't mean…I didn't. I just meant how are you feeling?" Jim said trying to phrase it better. Truth-be-told he was always better with machines than people.

"It… hurts"; Gene managed as he took another swig of the bottle and burst into tears

"Do I have a sign branded on my forehead or something Jim? One that reads 'Gene Starwind can not protect his women. Kill them easy'? " He asked looking up tearfully.

Jim looked into his friends eyes and knew what Gene was talking about immediately, he recognised that Chassid emotionally drained stare, he had only seen it once before. he sighed and shook his head.

"That won't do any good, Gene, Feeling like that…Melfina is not Hilda", Jim said, the words cut his throat like a buzz saw on there way out but he said them.

"But…" Gene protested.

"There is nothing we can do for Hilda Gene, she is gone, we couldn't help her. People die" Jim stated thinking it over if he should move closer to his friend or not trying to gage how volatile he really was, eyeing Gene carefully his long term friend looked like a bottle of pop about to explode. Jim thought better of it.

"I should have. I could have helped her Jim. I should have been out there with her I kept thinking maybe if I was out there. Maybe she wouldn't have died that maybe she would still be here" Gene stated; "and now they've taken Melfina too" he broke down again into tears.

"Hilda is dead. We can't change the past Gene and dwelling will not do you any good. Melfina isn't dead"

"We don't know that for certain", Gene said.

"Yes we do. We've worked enough here to know how these things are. If they wanted her dead they would have killed her here. Hell a good sniper could have hit her from three kilometres away and we'd never find them, the fact they broke in and took her means that for whatever reason they want her alive", Jim spoke carefully choosing each word.

"Then what can we do", Gene asked there was a long silence.

"We wait for a ransom call. If it's a kidnapping then they will more than likely want us to pay to get her back", Jim said.

Suzuka eyed both of them from the corner. She doubted very much that whomever sent them were interested in a ransom. The assailants were highly trained professionals and you simply did not send that calibre of individual in for a mere kidnapping. This was no gangster smash and grab or crime of opportunity of that much, she was certain but she wasn't going to dash Genes hopes, at least not until she had to.

The Telephone, rang and Gene ran over faster than she had ever seen him run to pick up, touching the Video Screen to accept the call. "Yes?" he asked hopefully. The small-embedded screen inside the unit flickered and changed from its normal logo to the face of a young woman, a blonde in a silver uniform.

"Hello I am calling on behalf of Arc Tech Information systems are you happy with your current video Link Service?"

Gene let out a ragefull cry, almost like a barbarian howl of old Earth as he ripped the phone unit off the wall entirely and threw it across the room into the opposing wall smashing it and leaving a large dent in the plaster. "God Damn Telemarketers!" Gene said panting.

"I can't lose her again Jim, not again not after …not again" he pleaded with Jim as he hugged his bottle of bourbon close to himself.

"Gene, Tell me what do you remember of last night?" Suzuka said, she startled Gene a little he had forgotten she was there.

"I remember being out on the balcony with you. I remember falling asleep with Melfina, then waking up to a noise in my room, there were armed men, Melfina was gone I thought maybe she was downstairs. They tried to gas me, some kind of knockout gas I reached for my shotgun that I keep under the pillow and then…there was an explosion. I got thrown through a wall and woke up this morning in Jim's bed" he said.

"Naked" Jim added.

"I think we covered that discussion" Gene said, he just knew even if they got Mel back that Jim was never going to let him live that down.

"The mind is like a Camera, it takes in more than we see" Suzuka said

"Gene, I want you to focus, close your eyes" Suzuka instructed. Gene looked dubious; "This is important" she added and he obeyed.

"Focus on last night" Suzuka said.

"I don't remember more than what I've already told you Suzu" Gene Spoke.

"Gene Focus. Focus on a single detail about last night, something mundane but unique to last night"

"Okay", Gene said.

"Expand on that single detail, one by one like filling in a Jigsaw, let the memory take you where it wants to go not where you think it should", Suzuka spoke, her voice seemed more distant though.

"Okay", Gene said.

"Now tell me what you see", Suzuka said her voice shifted and distant, like she was only half there.

"I see a man, in my room. He looks like the leader. The others seem to look to him for orders" Gene said.

"What does he look like?" Suzuka asked.

"Don't know, he's wearing some kind of power armour. Looks expensive, cuttings edge too. Not the kind of thing the Pirates would use. Its black mostly, but there is parts, which are silver. "

"What about his weapon?" Suzuka asked.

"Long, Silver cover, short barrel, black stock, looks like it takes some kind of energy cell rather than bullets. I'm guessing expensive too", Gene said; "Triple Rail, One top with a reflex sight, a side rail and an under rail with a Grenade launcher attached"

The More Gene said the more Suzuka was getting worried that the assailants that had Melfina were Military or at least had connections to military hardware. She was sketching the weapon as Gene was describing it filling in details from her own memory to get a more complete picture.

Gene opened his eyes and looked over at the drawing Suzuka had made; "Wow Suzuka, that's exactly it! That's the suit and rifle I saw. I can take this to Fred"

Suzuka nodded and smiled.

"I didn't know you could draw like that?" Gene said.

"It is not a skill I use often" Suzuka said.

"Your really good, maybe you should have been an artist instead of an assassin Suzu", Gene replied.

Suzuka blushed slightly; "If you have seen me work Gene, I am still an Artist. I just use a different set of tools" she stated.

Gene chuckled and for a moment Suzuka say the pain in his eyes go, if only for a moment. "Okay Jim, Call Fred"

"Do I have to?" Jim asked or more pleaded.

"He's the only arms dealer I know that isn't trying to kill me", Gene stated honestly.

"The only one who isn't trying to kill you yet", Jim Corrected.

"Fair Point" Gene said, as Jim went off to one of the other rooms to use the spare phone leaving him alone with Suzuka, he relaxed on his stool, eyeing her out of the corner of his vision. She looked as if she was wrestling with herself on whether to say something or not, in all the time he had known her, she had never heisted to speak her mind or mince her words.

"There is another possibility Gene", Suzuka began; "I was…hesitant to bring it up in front of the others but…Melfina is a peace of advanced technology", Suzuka stated.

Gene looked over at her fast, and the look he gave her was worse than if he had sucker punched her in the gut then his eyes deflated and he looked down in his own sorrow.

"She's more than that Suzu", he said with an exasperated sigh.

"We know that", Suzuka said moving across to put her arm on his shoulder, in truth she didn't believe it, to her Melfina was a machine, nothing more but she was certainly not going to argue point, not today. Gene rested his hand on hers and squeezed tightly.

"However, the people that took her, if they took her for her technology certainly won't care who she is to us" Suzuka said simply. Gene nodded

No more needed to be said; she certainly did not need to remind him that if these people took her for her technology that it was unlikely they would ransom her. Either way their path was set before them - they would need to find Melfina themselves.

Jim returned beat red; "Fred says we'll need to drop by his place as soon as we can and he will see what he can do"

"Alright!" Gene Leapt up, "lets go then! Lets see if Fred has the information we need", he almost yelled as he walked over to the door, he felt alive, better than alive he felt like he had hope, he could do this. He could find her. He had to because he couldn't face the other alternatives, even if it was always on the edge of his mind of the possibility..

"Gene?" Jim said.

"Yes?" Gene replied looking back.

"Might want to put on some pants first", Jim said.

"Right" Gene said blushing heading back into the apartment.

**Authors Notes**: Right. Okay, I know I know its been ages since I did an update but consider this…a re-imaging of Suzuka's Secret. Honestly, that was never as good as I would have liked and while the later chapters improved it always felt like it was stringed together, plus since that time I think I have matured as a writer. So here, for your enjoyment is a better version at least I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I actually enjoyed writing this one. I'll leave the older one up for the sake of posterity but this is the one that will be getting updates. Some of that will get brought over (the Good bits at least) but most of it will end up on the cutting room floor almost undoubtedly. That said for those of you with any interest at all – Future Imperfect is still in production despite the huge update delay this is because my pre-reader has disappeared off the face of the planet and my backup too. So although the chapter has been ready for nearly six months I am really a little apprehensive about sending it out live until its been beta read at least since I know for sure despite re-writing it four times and sweeping it three times there will be errors.

Anyway, I'm going to commit myself to updating this once a week, Every Friday night to try and whip my muse into shape. Interesting fact – This chapter is actually longer in word count and page count than a lot of my old fan-fics


	2. Chapter 2: Gunpowder and Gasoline

**Chapter 2: Gunpowder and Gasoline**

Gene pulled up his car outside the elaborate Chinese decorated building, which was Fred Lous Emporium. It was several stories high and built like an old Shinto-Temple, boxy and with each floor smaller than the former reaching up to a sphere and spike on the very top. In its outward it was black and red though decorated with a lot more gold and features engravings of Chinese dragons in silver along the walls. At the door were two large golden dragon statures proudly sat on their rear-legs, heads held high caught in mid pose ready to breath fire upon there enemies. Gene decided it looked kind of vulgar, an over elaborate display of wealth that made him cringe inwardly.

"We're here", he said, eyeing the two men in black suits that stood guard, they were almost undoubtedly armed

Jim looked up from what he was reading and eyed the building. "That Fred's new place?" he asked. Gene simply nodded.

They both disembarked with Aisha following closely behind them, her senses on the alert for anything out of the ordinary. Suzuka had opted to stay behind at the apartment her official reasoning was that someone should be there in case the group who had Melfina did try to ransom her, Gene understood Suzuka enough though to know her reason was more linked to Fred than any desire to stay behind. People did tend to hold grudges when someone tried to kill them.

They approached the transparent glass door, which Gene suspected was more than just glass and when he opened it was almost certain because of its extra weight. It had to at least be bullet proof if not our right armoured. Entering the lobby he took in his soundings there were a lot of suited men around, all carrying weapons of some kind, mostly assault rifles but also sub-machineguns and large automatic shotguns in addition to any sidearm they may be carrying. No guard was alone each door was guarded by at least two men and he assumed there were two on the other side as well making four guards to a door, even the mobile guards patrolled in overlapping pairs and there was almost certainly more guards throughout the building. All of them looked like grizzled veterans, the kind that had seen combat not the usual flunkies Fred employed, if Gene had to guess he would say ex-military. Fred was not taking any chances on security. Gene wondered for a moment if he had done that for him to make Gene feel safe, or because he knew Gene was coming and considered him a threat.

"Hello sir, how may I help you?" said the cheerful secretary behind her desk, Gene eyed the red head, she was certainly pretty enough with short orange-red hair that framed her face perfectly and the most beautiful green eyes. Gene chastised himself, Melfina was missing less than 24 hours and he was already eyeing up other women, he should be ashamed of himself. .

"Hello. We're here to see Mr Luo", Gene replied to her.

"Do you have an appointment, Mr Luo is very busy right now", the secretary answered with a pleasant smile, Gene glanced down at her name tag it read 'Sara'

"Well Sara", Gene began using the woman's first name "Sort of, we called earlier but didn't really make an appointment, Just tell him that Gene Starwind is here. He'll see us", Gene said giving her the 'Starwind smile'.

She blushed and nodded before reaching for her videophone and pressing a button on it. "Mr Luo, a Gene Starwind is here to see you" she said into the screen.

"Send him in! Send him in!" Fred Exclaimed in excitement even over the video, Gene winced.

"Are you sure sir? He doesn't have an appointment", Sara asked to confirm more out of habit than any doubt at her bosses intentions

"Of Course, Gene and I are old friends" he said; "Send him right on through" Fred added as he hung up. Sara reached under her desk and pressed a button. There was a loud buzzing nose and the large heavy glass door clicked and opened behind her.

"Mr Lou will see you, head right on through it's the first door on your left" she said cheerfully as she passed Gene a piece of paper with her phone number on it.

Gene nodded his thanks and pocketed the paper, walking towards the door.

"You are unbelievable" Jim chastised.

"Hmmm?" Gene asked pushing the heavy glass door open.

"Melfina is gone less than a day and you already have girls throwing themselves at you", Jim added.

"Maybe I'm just that good?" Gene countered with a small grin as he went to knock on the heavy wooden door to Fred Office it opened and a blonde woman with shoulder length hair and dressed in a sharp red suit walked right into him knocking Gene to the floor.

"Hey watch where you're going lady!" Gene said annoyed at being knocked on his arse.

"You god damn unbelievable bastard!" the woman yelled back at Fred as she stormed out ignoring Gene altogether. Gene picked himself up and entered Fred's Office closely followed by Jim and Aisha.

"What the hell was that about?" Gene asked.

"Just Business", Fred answered evasively and distracted, watching the woman leave in her car.

"Right", Gene said not believing him, Gene had dealt with enough pissed off women in his life to know when something was 'just business' but it wasn't his concern and certainly not his business to care.

"I'm sorry to hear about Melfina, she was a nice girl", Fred Said crossing the space in the room faster than Gene had seen any assassin and giving his friend a bone crushing bear hug.

Gene patted Fred on the back awkwardly. "She still is a nice girl, she's not dead yet Fred" Gene said trying to placate himself from the man-hug, even as the words made his voice crack just a little.

"So Jim said you needed something from me?" Fred asked finally ending the hug much to Genes Relief.

"We were wondering if you could identify some technology for us", Gene asked.

"I'm no scientist" Fred answered.

"Weapons Technology" Gene Clarified.

"I'll do my best to help if I can", Fred agreed with a nod.

Gene took the rolled up drawing out of his coat and handed it to Fred. Fred thumbed the neatly tied red ribbon and unrolled the piece of paper looking at it carefully he frowned.

"No I've not seen anything like that before, Gene" Fred said. "I can't help you, I'm Sorry"

Gene raised an eyebrow.

"You're the largest arms dealer on the planet, you've not heard about anything like this?" Gene asked, trying to get something at least.

"I'm also the only one who is not trying to kill you, currently" Fred countered.

"That Too", Gene agreed.

"But to answer your question, I don't stock anything like this and I don't know who does", Fred replied.

"Right", Gene said not convinced. "Well thanks for your time Fred", Gene added.

"It was my pleasure. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me", Fred said smiling.

"Right", Gene stated as he turned and left waving goodbye to Fred walking through the doors and lobby in silence, Gene waved to the secretary making her blush more. As they made it to the street and their car

"Did you see that, Fred lied to us", Gene stated simply.

"I saw", Jim added.

"You think he was lying?" Aisha asked from the backseat as he hopped in

"Oh he was lying, the question is why was he lying" Gene answered.

Aisha nodded carefully looking between the two of them.

"There are two possibilities, either he was lying to protect himself, or lying because he thinks he is protecting me. Or both" Gene said thinking it over; "Either way, we know what we need to do now"

"So what do we do now, Gene?" Jim asked.

"We do what we've always done", Gene said.

"Follow the trail and dismantle", Jim stated sagely.

"Follow the trail and dismantle", Gene agreed.

"Hmm?" Aisha asked; "What do you mean?"

"They took one of us. We kill all of them" Gene Clarified.

"Right", Jim Agreed.

"So we just kill our way to the top?" Aisha asked shocked; "that sounds like a really bad plan, and you know it's a bad plan when I am the voice of reason"

"A Bad plan today is better than the best plan tomorrow" Gene countered.

"Aren't the people who took Melfina going to notice their henchmen start disappearing?" Aisha protested, not exactly used to being the voice of reason.

"Exactly", Gene replied; "Draw them out into the open, then we at least know what we are up against"

Aisha stared.

"What about Fred? Isn't he your friend?" she asked.

"He is. This is why you and Jim are going to sneak back into his place later and liberate his computer records for us", Gene said.

"Liberate. You mean steal"

"Fred is not telling us what we need to know voluntarily so we need to take it for ourselves. We break in, look around, take his computer data and some of his weapons to make it look like a typical snatch and grab. It's for his own good", Gene reasoned and Aisha had to admit it was surprisingly logical.

"Alright", Aisha nodded; "But why me and Jim and not you?"

"Easy. One, I have something else I need to chase down while you two are occupied with Fred", Gene said simply. "Two, In case you hadn't noticed you're a heck of a lot more athletic than I am and Three, Jim can't go in there alone so I need someone I can trust to look out for him while he does his work" Gene answered honestly.

Aisha nodded; all of those were fairly reasonable.

(0000)

Suzuka sat on her bed in the lotus position, her legs were cross with her hands resting on her knees palm first and her eyes were closed. Her breathing relaxed to almost nothing, so shallow that anyone observing would hardly be able to see her chest move. She was deep in thought, she had stayed behind partly because of the reason that she had said, though she doubted that anyone would call with a ransom. Of course there was always the fact that the last time she had met Fred Luo, she had tried to end his life, while Fred seemed like the easy going type she was certain that people tended to hold grudges when you tried to kill them.

Still, the more she thought about the night before the more she started to conclude that this group whoever they were and whomever there backers may be wanted Melfina for her technology, everyone else here was just another obstacle to overcome, another wall in there way of their objective. Suzuka remembered when she thought like that, there was always an objective, it was the way an assassins mind worked, you could never overcome a group protecting a target but you could complete objectives, you focus on the individual rather than the group, isolate them from the others and dismantle. It was how she had been taught by her Master, as she drifted deeper into her mediation she started to remember her time in tutelage…

"_Slice, Swipe, Parry", the man repeated, "Slice, Swipe, Parry"_

_Suzuka did as instructed, bringing her wooden training sword down, then pivoting it to move across in a sweeping motion before adjusting her wrist to parry and return to her defensive stance, perfectly copying her master._

"_No, Suzuka" he said, the man was smaller than she, with grey-white hair tied up onto a tight knot was and he wore a simple Black Kimono that was tied by a white belt around his waist. "You are doing it wrong" he chastised._

"_I Assure you master. I am copying your movements precisely" Suzuka protested_

"_Exactly Suzuka" he said with a sigh and instructed her to sheath her weapon with a wave of hand as he pinched the bridge of his nose with the other, which she did without question. It was not her place to question a grand master. _

"_Walk with me, Suzuka" he instructed and she did, they slowly walked along the elaborate Japanese Pagoda which gave a view out across the sea, of the setting sun, the area itself was covered in various plants and trees as well as implements for training._

"_Suzuka, what is an Assassin", the man said eyeing her._

_Suzuka paused for a moment as if considering the question before she answered_

"_An Assassin is someone who kills for money, Master" she answered._

"_No, Suzuka" he stated; "Any moron with a gun can end a life for money, he may call himself an assassin but he is not. He is simply a murderer", the man added clasping his hands behind his back and instructing _

_Suzuka considered this, "I do not understand master", she said honestly._

_He smiled. _

"_An Assassin is an artist Suzuka, like any master artist be it a painter or composer, the difference is to an Assassin, their art is death. Every time an Assassin takes a life, it should be a masterwork, to kill, with one blow, a single strike without causing suspicion and leaving no trace of your footsteps in the shadows we walk. To take a life with the best of our skill not only honours us but the life we take" Her Master explained._

"_Like all artists, you cannot pass on this ability to others, a painter can teach another how to paint, but he cannot teach another how to become an artist, nor would he try to do so. A great artist recognises that a student must develop his or her own style and skill with the brush to become their own artist. This is what separates a good painter, from a great artist, and this is what separates a murderer from an assassin"_

"_I Think I understand, master", Suzuka nodded; "You believe that by too closely copying your technique that I am neglecting my own, you do not wish me to become a copy of yourself but of my own standing. To develop my own techniques based upon the skills that you have taught me", Suzuka said._

"_Indeed" he nodded sagely; "Clinically you are my best student Suzuka but you lack the passion and flare of an Artist, like your friend Ritsuko. You are a good painter Suzuka but you are not yet an artist" he added._

_Suzuka nodded, it was true that Ritsuko was one of the best students; she could make some of the most simple moves look utterly stunning and complex so intricate in there simplicity._

"_Retire for the evening, Suzuka, we shall continue your training in the morning" her master commanded but without a hint of firmness, more of a sage old father talking to a daughter._

"_Yes Master" she said with a bow._

Suzuka opened her eyes sharply drawn out of memory by the loud bang of the door to Starwind and Hawking. She quickly moved to her door, drawing her sword, walking on the balls and tips of her feet, as she had been taught, silent footsteps, taking long shallow breaths her sword was angled upwards. The blunt side of he Bokatu resting against her shoulder blade as she moved faster than lightning down the corridor from shadow to shadow until she reached the stairs, hearing someone rummaging around on the lower level as if searching for something. She moved forwards, down the stairs, adrenaline surging into her vans at what might come.

She smiled partly in relief, partly in disappointment to spot Gene Starwind in the Kitchen sorting through the cupboards bent over with his head in one. She couldn't help herself but admire his position and is posterior protruding outwards. She coughed loudly and gene jumped a clear mile banging his head on the top of the cupboard as he retreated holding his noggin to turn to her.

"Suzuka! You scared the hell out of me!" he chastised but there was no real malice in his voice

"I gathered" she said dryly; "Did Fred Luo give you any more information?" she asked

Gene seemed to visibly deflate and she regretted asking; "Yes and No" Gene replied. "He said he didn't know anything but he was lying to us, I don't know why"

"Are you certain his was being untruthful?" Suzuka asked.

"Very. He sent my Bull-Shit-O-Meter up to 10", Gene stated. Suzuka Nodded in agreement Gene was rarely wrong about these things, he seemed to have an inexplicable talent for understanding the human psyche and she can come to trust his gut almost as much as he did.

"Do you want me to threaten him? I can be quite intimidating" She said almost with a smile.

"No that's okay Suzu; I've got it in hand, Aisha and Jim are taking care of it", Gene replied but he looked tired. Like a man who was running on empty.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked

Gene considered this, eyeing the bottle of scotch he had retrieved and had been looking for some clean glasses when she had interrupted him. He pushed the bottle away "I'd like that" he said with a honest smile, the first one he felt he'd had in weeks even if it was only really hours.

(0000)

Aisha and Jim were on the rooftop of a nearby building preparing for their 'heist'. Jim was checking over his computer one last time to make sure he had everything he needed while Aisha was checking her gloves on the black single piece cargo utility suit she wore, in addition to combat boots and a tactical vest. Hers was identical to Jim's except his had fastenings on his back to carry a laptop case while hers had more space in the front to accommodate her chest. Both had been retrieved out of Gene's trunk. Trust Gene to have Cat-burglar clothes in his trunk, she wondered exactly why but then asking Gene questions that she really didn't want answers too was generally a bad idea.

"You all set Jim?" She asked.

He stopped typing and folded his laptop lid closed packing into the black carry-all case and strapping it to his back and double checking all the Velcro straps before turning to talk.

"All set" he said turning around and catching an eye of Aisha, "Wow, you look really good in that" he said, he blushed as the words had come out rather quickly and without his consent as if his mouth had suddenly developed a will all of its own.

Aisha felt her own cheeks tint slightly pink; and it was true she did look good in the all black form fitting jump suit which fitted her well. It zipped in the front from her belly up to her neck even if it was covered by the tactical vest cargo compartments for additional items on the front as well as extra compartments on the thighs, hips and legs. Fastened to her right thigh was a black tactical holster containing a grey-pistol which Jim had insisted she carry just in case even though in such things she preferred to use her claws, as all C'Tari did.

"Thank you" she said at the complement "Okay Jim, put your hands around me and hold on okay?" She instructed.

Jim did as he was instructed, stepping up behind her, he clipped himself to her back using the fastenings on her utility suit and wrapping his arms around her body camping his hands onto her breasts without really thinking about it.

Aisha blushed and giggled

"Lower Jim" she said amused, not chastising him for his actions in fact she mused to herself she rather enjoyed it. Jim complied with her instructions and moved his hands lower, clasping them around her waist.

"Better?" he asked oblivious

"Yes" she said.

She stepped back several paces then suddenly burst forward at speed jumping off the edge of the roof leaping into the air and landing on her feet on the opposing side. Aisha continuing her path towards Fred's place of business from rooftop to rooftop, from swing to swing without even stopping or breaking flow of her momentum causing Jim to hold onto her tighter for deal life. His head buried firmly into her neck and shoulder with his breath tickling her skin on her neck and her ear causing her to blush visibly.

"You okay back there?" she asked as she leapt from one building to another grabbing hold of a ledge and pulling herself up in one fluid movement that required strength Jim couldn't possibly calculate.

"Fine!" he said nervously. This was definitely one of the most fun and terrifying things he had done in his life. Before he knew it though it was over and they had made it to the roof of Fred's building.

"You can let go now", she said with an amused smirk

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Hmm", she nodded; "We're here" she added and Jim opened his eyes to see that they were indeed 'there' almost reluctantly he let go of her waist and unclipped his belt from her back.

"Okay", he said; "That was fun, terrifying but fun" he said to her as she hoisted him to another level, thankfully Fred's building was mostly flat and boxy, Jim helped Aisha pull herself up to the same level and they both headed for the vents.

Jim unpacked his a device from his vest and connected it using two crocodile clips, then took out a number of screwdrivers and opened an access box. Using his tools he clipped and tied a number of wires and unscrewed others. Aisha stood nervously looking around, she did not like being idle, especially given the less than legal task they were performing.

"Jim, what is that?" she said pointing to the large all-glass monolith like building that towered over everything else in Heifong. The Building itself was lit up with several searchlights all pointing at it, as if to draw even more attention to itself, it was also surrounded by a number of subsidiary buildings. Jim looked up from his task and saw what Aisha was pointing at.

"That's the Arc Tech building" he said; "They moved in a few months back; not sure what they do but it must be expensive to afford a place like that. I think its some kind of Mining firm", he said returning to his task.

"Got it", Jim said; "Primary Alarm disabled" he reported happily as he removed the vent cover. Aisha grinned and ruffled his hair from behind.

"Your brains my brawn we make a good team" she said.

"We do", he said crawling into the vent, with her following closely behind.

They spent several minutes crawling through the vents in silence, making convocation when you are breaking into a building known to have heavily armed guards was a really bad idea. They arrived at the access panel that Jim was looking for and he took out another device from his vest; this time it was a small silver cylinder with a twist top and a green LED on the top. He twisted the top of the device and it clicked, there was a low frequency whine, as the device seemed to spool up.

"Take care of the Cameras" he whispered to her and she nodded her understanding

Jim unscrewed the panel and removed it dropping down onto the floor below, quickly followed by Aisha who dropped to all fours before standing. Jim motioned for her to follow him and she did so without question. They took a number of turns along the elaborately decorated corridors which featured cream walls and plus red carpets until they came to a room that was separated by transparent glass the room itself looked to be filled with high end computers, in racks and rows.

"That must be the server farm", Jim said while he stared at the room in approval until Aisha clipped him around the back of the head gently.

"Jim stop drooling" she instructed; "We got work to do"

"Right" he said nodding.

They headed to the door; it was locked with some kind of digital keypad. Jim took out another gadget from his vest and inserted the one end, which was a blank credit card sized key connected to a ribbon cable that went to a small handheld PDA sized unit. Jim pressed a button on the touch screen and it went to work showing a blue progress bar.

Several seconds of nervous waiting later and the door code display scrambled into a string of hash signs then unlocked. Jim retrieved his gadget and entered the server farm, on the inside it was even more impressive.

"You are such a geek" Aisha teased.

"Guilty" Jim replied playfully.

They made their way to an area where a number of computer towards were stacked so as to give themselves concealment from the outside in case a guard walked by while they were working. Jim unpacked his laptop and opened it up, then he plugged the cable into one of the servers and began to type.

Aisha watched him carefully; it was interesting to see him in work in his element, truth-be-told she didn't really pay attention to him much as she should at home. Especially when he did the Computer thing, she was never one for technology and whenever anyone tried to talk to her about it, it just made her feel stupid. Heck Gene mocked her because she couldn't work the TV recorder but watching Jim here in this situation working on what she could only assume was a complex problem appealed to her. She reasoned that though he couldn't take out an army of armed men with his bear hands she couldn't do what he was doing either. Maybe what she had said on the roof was far more accurate than she first realised.

"You okay Aisha?" Jim asked.

She looked up, he must have caught her staring which caused her to blush.

"Fine" she said with a smile and a nod; "Just admiring your work" she added. This time it was his turn to blush as he continued to type on the screen without looking up from it.

"Thanks" he said after a long pause

The computer beeped a number of times as he continued to type. Aisha scooted over and rested her chin on his shoulder to watch what he was doing.

"Aisha" he said without looking up but eyeing her carefully from the corner of his vision all to aware of her chest pressed into his back.

"Hmm" she said seemingly distracted.

"What are you doing?" he asked without taking is attention from his screen.

"Just watching what you're doing", she said honestly.

"Oh" he answered; "Would you like me to explain it to you?" he asked.

"Hmm" she said, hesitantly before agreeing.

"Alright, imagine you have a large room, with ten bad guys in it, and there is only one door to escape though and these bad guys all want you dead. Basically I'm isolating each one and disabling them one at a time so that I can escape through the door" he explained.

"That actually made sense" Aisha smiled and nodded,

Aisha continued to watch Jim in comfortable silence, tilting her head so as to rest it on his shoulder trying to remember a time when she felt more content.

She couldn't

(0000)

Melfina awoke, in a cold dark place, she opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Her surroundings were not what she would have imagined them to be or wanted she was in a dark room, lying on a single bed. The walls were flat grey, there were no windows and the only other occupant was a bucket that she assumed was her bathroom, or her washbasin/ or both. She looked down at herself as she shivered she had not been given any clothes or dressed while she was unconscious.

Her Door clicked and she heard the sound of several locking mechanisms undoing as the heavy steel door then opened, three people stepped through, either side were two men flanking a third who was a woman. A blue haired woman with glasses, she was wearing a shirt and tan pants with a lab coat over it, she seemed to be in charge. Melfina scrambled to try and cover her modesty as the two men were leering at her.

"So your awake" the woman said

"What do you want with me? Who are you people?" Melfina asked.

The woman seemed to ignore her as she was reading her notes.

"I have friends. They will come for me", Melfina stated.

"I'm sure they will try" the woman said looking up; "but they will fail", she said.

"I'm Doctor Moore" she said with a false smile as she adjusted her glasses; "Melfina, you asked why you were here" she said.

Melfina blinked how did they know her name.

"How…" Melfina began.

"We've been watching you for sometime now, you and your lover. Gene Starwind, he is of no interest to us of course. But you, you are of great interest" she said with a smile that Melfina knew was cruel even though outwardly it looked comforting it was the smile of a monster, the kind that a predator would give to a prey animal as it was about to devour it.

"How did you think this was going to end Melfina?" Moore asked. "Did you think you were going to get a little house with a picket fence? Maybe even a pet canine?" she added.

Melfina looked away unable to meet the eyes of the elder woman.

"Your technology Melfina, nothing more, nothing less", Moore continued. "You don't feel you're just programmed to recognise how you are supposed to react to a situation and your AI core adjusts your body temperature. Nanomachines in your skin move your lips to smile or alter your skin pigmentation to make you blush. Logic circuits factor in events and pre-programmed responses to create the illusion of emotion you are incapable of actually feeling. You're nothing but artificial and you disgust me to think yourself human", she said.

"Still" Moore began; "you could prove useful to us at least, your underlying technology is very advanced, Khan was certainly a genius, even if we have to dissect you apiece at a time" Moore said simply.

Moore nodded to one of her guards and he took out a black pistol with a yellow end and aimed it at Melfina, she scream but it was to no avail as the orange bolt from the weapon hit her square in the chest. Melfina dropped limp to the floor.

"Take it to lab four, have them start a preliminary exam", Moore ordered.

"Yes ma'am" they chimed off in unison.

(0000)

Jim stared at his laptop "Damn it, why isn't it here" he cursed.

"No luck?" Aisha said,

"None, everything else is here, accounts, purchases, stock lists, suppliers, contracts, I got enough here to blackmail Fred Luo for the rest of his life if I wanted but none of what we need is here" he stated in frustration.

"Well if its big enough for Fred to lie about it to Gene, maybe he doesn't trust his computers either" Aisha stated.

"Good Point" Jim nodded in agreement; "Maybe we'll find something in his office". Jim added as he closed up his laptop and unplugged it from the server farm and packed up his gear. They both climbed to there feet and made there way out of the Server room, moving down several hallways until they reached Fred's office, which was unlocked. Opening the wooden door they entered closing it behind them

The room looked impossibly large, much larger than it really should be though it still retained a level off formality to it and also intimacy. Decorated with red carpets, leather furnishings and a large oak hardwood desk in the middle of the room towards the back, along the walls were several bookcases and paintings as well as Dragon statures.

"Okay, search for anything unusual and try not to break anything" Jim instructed.

Aisha did as she was told, methodically searching the left side of the room, checking the statures and book cases thoroughly for any hidden traps or switches or anything else that could be considered a 'false door'. Meanwhile Jim checked the right side of the room looking behind the painting of Fred with his feather a number of draws and eventually Fred's desk, searching the desk draws to find only a few papers related to mundane things, Jim found Fred's Journal Planner.

Jim opened the planner and flicked through it.

"Jim!" Aisha protested in a hushed whisper "Are you reading the man's diary?" she asked.

"We broke into his place of business, hacked his computers and intend on steeling as much as we can carry. At this point I think reading his diary is the least of our crimes", Jim countered.

"Aisha look at this" he said calling her over. She crossed the room quickly and looked over his shoulder at what he was reading. "Looks like Fred has a meeting with Arc Tech, someone named BM" Jim stated as he read the elaborate script of Fred's handwriting

"What did you say Arc Tech does exactly?" Aisha questioned.

"Mining, I think, I heard they run some off world rigs out in the backwater, mining Dragonite Ore" Jim replied.

"So why would an Arms dealer like Fred meet with a mining firm?" Aisha questioned.

Jim nodded in agreement of her suspicions he replaced Fred's Journal planner back in the draw and moved his hand under the desk finding a switch. Jim Pressed it and the bookcase that Aisha had earlier been searching slide back to reveal a part of room. They both looked at each other.

"Bingo" they said in unison.

Walking over to the newly revealed room, it was a small room with white tiling dominated by an impossibly large vault door, which looked overly complex with at least seven combination spinners. Which meant seven locks before the vault would open, much to Jim's dismay it also lacked any kind of technological entry relying on pure old fashioned mechanical know how and cold steel.

"That's a big vault" Jim said.

"That's a very big vault" Aisha corrected.

"So what do we do now. I can't hack it, no computer" Jim stated eyeing the vault door like it was the largest obstacle in the world knowing it would take hours to burn through or try to drill and trying to crack it would take even longer.

He didn't even think they still made these anymore.

"I got this" Aisha said.

"You sure?" Jim asked

"Best ears in the galaxy", she said with a smile, resting her ear against the cool metal she began to fiddle with the tumblers one at a time.

Now it was his turn to watch Aisha as she worked, it was a curious thing to watch the C'Tari working the tumblers listening for the different types of clicks that signalled the digits of the locking mechanism. Jim smiled since every so often her ears would twitch and he assumed that was when she found a number. It wasn't too long by the time the C'Tari had worked through all six of the dials; and was well on her way through the seventh. He checked his watch; only forty-five minutes had passed. Maybe she really did have the best ears in the galaxy.

There was a loud click and a clank and the sound of sliding metal, and then the door opened, slowly via hydraulic hinges.

"Aisha I could kiss you" Jim said with a broad ear to ear grin as he hugged her tightly, she returned the hug lifting him clearly off his feet and spinning him around happily dancing. She returned him to the ground as the vault finished its opening cycle and stopped.

The vault room was in stark contrast to the office, gone were the vulgar displays of opulence in exchange for cold fluorescence lights and pristine white tiles and whitewash. Both Jim and Aisha stared into the room like a dear caught in the headlights of an oncoming semi-truck.

"That's a lot of money" Jim said.

"That's an awful lot of money", Aisha Corrected.

On the right side of the vault piled into large but neat stacks was more money than either Jim or Aisha had ever seen, Jim estimated it had to go well into the multiple millions of Wong. On the left side were a large number of artefacts which Jim assumed were either valuable antiques or family heirlooms. Both proceeded further into the vault, as there seemed to be a second subsidiary room behind steel railings with a gate in the middle Jim was interested in. While Jim walked to that Aisha started stuffing her tactical vests pockets with as much Wong as she could gather. Jim entered the secondary room and was just as surprised as he was by the previous; in neat organised racks and racks along the entire back room and back to back in columns were rows of assault weapons.

If Gene were here he would say something about Christmas coming early. Jim took one of the Rifles out and examined it carefully, comparing it to the mental picture of Suzuki's drawing, there was no doubt they were the same types of rifle used by the goons who took Melfina.

"Aisha" Jim called; "Come look at this"

Aisha came from where she was out of sight, and Jim almost broke out into giggles as by now the pockets of her tactical vest and lower cargo pants were bulging with Wong.

"What do you need Jim?" she asked.

Jim held up the rifle that he was holding for Aisha to see.

"That looks like Suzu's drawing, Gene was right Fred lied to us", She confirmed what he was already thinking.

"Aisha" he said before Aisha disappeared again, he ripped two patches from his thighs and unfolded them into a large cargo bags tossing them over to Aisha one at a time. "If your gonna rob the guy do it right" He instructed.

Aisha nodded and then disappeared to start filling the cargo bags with Fred's Money. While Jim filled another two bags he had brought with him with weapons of varying size and ammunition for them. Once he was done filling the bags he went over to look at the computer console that was at the very back centre of the room. Attached to a wall. Displaying an "Enter Password" in large red lettering.

Jim cracked his knuckles as he unpacked his laptop again and plugged it in, this security system was much more rudimentary compared to the server farm. For someone like Jim it was like trying to stop an elephant with tissue paper walls. Jim downloaded the data, without having time to look at it by now they needed to get out as soon as they could. Re-packing his laptop he turned and grabbed his filled bags heading to the vaults main door.

"Aisha you done?" he said looking over at her. She had stuffed as much of Fred's money into the bags as she physically could and it was bulging at the sides and top from its cargo contents. He eyed the pile left Aisha was still trying to take he guessed she must have got at least half of it.

"Done", she said taking a last handful of notes picking up the bags

They entered the main office; again and Jim moved to the window, taking more equipment from his vest he attached four silver discs to the window, one to each corner.

"Cover your ears" he said. He pressed a button and the discs emitted a high pitched whine, the glass splintered and shattered falling down in one sheet onto the office floor quietly.

He took out two sets of micro-repel gear and attached it to the window frame the iridium claws extended and burrowed into the frame secured themselves and he tossed the other end over the ledge, the counter weight pulled the small micro rope out and down several stories. He clipped their bags to the small rope-lines and lowered them down to ground level,

"You're next Aisha" he instructed.

She nodded then he clipped Aisha onto the rope line and watched her repelled down and waited for him at the bottom. Jim took out two concussion charges and placed them close to the middle of the office, clipped himself onto the repel line and he repelled down. He reached bottom, unclipped himself and picked up his bags. Looking around the corner there was only one way out and armed goons guarded it.

Jim pressed the remote detonator, and the charges went off in two thundering booms. They would make one hell of a mess of Fred' s Office too. This also trigged the remote charge in the rope-line. The Thermite charges inside the rope ignited in a string of fizz and bag shredding them in thousand-degree heat removing any chance the guards might have of pursuit and covering the vital evidence. Jim watched the guards run inside in a panicked frenzy

Aisha and Jim ran bags over their shoulders to make their escape

(0000)

Suzuka and Gene were still talking and enjoying tea when Aisha and Jim walked in through the door, hoisting at least four bags between them over there shoulders. Two was clearly filled with money and was bulging at the sides along with Aisha's tactical vest and cargo pants. Jim's Bags on the other hand had the barrels of a lot of weapons pointing out the ends of where they should zip up and were also bulging at the sides.

"I said get what we need Jim, not clean the guy out", Gene stated in disbelief

Both Jim and Aisha shrugged with ear to ear grins.

"So did you at least get what we need?" Gene asked

"Oh yeah, Fred has been less than truthful with us all right", Jim said.

Gene looked down though he had suggested it he had hoped that maybe he was wrong and Fred was on the level with them. Now he knew how this would end; with Gunpowder and Gasoline.

**Author Notes: **Chapter two, done and done, on time like I promised Huzzah. Aisha and Jim are cute to write. This Chapter has not be independently Pre-Read. Now, onto three!


	3. Chapter 3: Lost and Down

**Chapter 3: Lost and down.**

Fred Lou was humming happily, Yesterday had been a good day, followed by a good evening and a good night indeed. He smiled stretching in his limousine there was nothing that could happen today which would upset him. His two escort vehicles, his Limousine and trailing vehicle pulled up outside his business premises and his driver got out and walked around to open the door. His two bodyguards exited first followed and formed a defensive perimeter. Fred got out next and walked into the grounds only to be confronted by a total mess.

He blinked.

"Never challenge the universe", he said to himself

Fred Immediately rushed into his building to his secretary, forcing his body guards to keep up as he almost tripped over his own feet in his haste.

"Sara!" he cried; "what happened?"

"Its terrible Mr Luo! Utterly terrible!" she said in tears

He tried to get more sense out of her but she couldn't really form words between the blubbering and the crying. So he sighed and proceeded past his checkpoint to his office. When he entered, the devastation was immense. Those two grenades Jim had thrown in had caused huge chunks of plaster to peel off and knocked over several bookshelves, paintings were hanging off the wall and a number of his Stature sculptures were broken in pieces on the floor. He desk was also shredded.

"What the…" he started but then he spotted that the vault was open and he ran over to it to find the door wide open. Fred Screamed.

"MY MONEY!" he yelled loudly; "WHERE IS MY MONEY. THEY…THEY TOOK MY MONEY!" he screamed at the top of his lungs in sheer disbelief before collapsing to his knees.

"Are you okay sir?" his head of security walked in.

Fred's eye twitched and the vein in his forehead pulsed in anger; "Where the hell were you guys! What am I paying you for!"

"Sir you pay us for personal security. Not building security. We are only here when you are, otherwise there is a light guard compliment" the man said; "it's in our contract"

His head of security had seen many wars, on many planets but in all the things he had seen the most tragic was seeing Fred Luo break down into shrill tears blubbering like a baby.

Never challenge the universe.

(0000)

Gene looked over the weapon again, yeah this was it this was definitely it. Gene removed the outer cover and started stripping the weapon down to its component parts for the tenth time and placing them out one by one on the table.

"Field stripping a weapon is all about repetition", he said to himself.

Jim stretched and yawned as he walked into the kitchen after a good sleep; it was noon already. He couldn't believe it but then after last night's activities it wasn't so surprising. He looked over at Suzuka sipping her tea.

"You sleep well Suzu?" Jim Asked.

"I did, thank you Jim" Suzuka Nodded with a small smile.

Jim looked over at Gene, working on one of the rifles they had brought home last night; "what about him?" he asked nodding his head towards Gene.

"I do not believe so", Suzuka said; "he was still here when I awoke. I do not believe he has slept"

Jim Sighed.

"Gene?" he asked walking over to the table where Gene was putting the weapon together again after placing out the parts individually.

"Yeah?" he said looking up as he loaded an energy cell into the magazine well ahead of the trigger assembly, the weapon lit up.

"Have you slept?" Jim ventured.

"Not yet", Gene said as he started stripping the weapon again.

"Gene your exhausted, you need to sleep", Jim said.

"I can't. If I sleep…I can't protect you all. I may lose another one of you" Gene said and Jim this time kneled down and took Gene's hands to stop him from stripping the weapon.

"Gene, we're going to find her. I promise but we need you firing on all cylinders when we do not want you half dead from exhaustion, Jim said.

"But…" Gene began.

"We'll be fine. Isn't that right Suzu?" Jim asked.

"We will be most secure. I will stand guard", Suzuka replied.

Gene swallowed.

"Okay" he said; "if anything happens, wake me" he ordered going to his room.

Gene lay down on his bed, resting his head on the pillow holding his shotgun in one hand across his chest as he starred at the ceiling fan, watching it rotate, listening to the breeze blow through the hole that was his window and the bustle of mid-day Heifong.

He felt his eyes get heavy, and he closed them for what seemed like a minute. Maybe a little sleep wasn't a bad idea.

(0000)

Jim knocked on Aisha's door.

"Come in!" she said.

Jim slid the door open and stepped in, Aisha was sat on the bed cross-legged counting out money in incriminates of a hundred Wong, wrapping them with ties and then stacking them. Judging from the pile in the corner she had been quite busy.

"When did you find time to do this?" Jim asked amazed.

"C'Tari don't need to sleep as much as humans", Aisha said simply.

"So why do you usually not get up till midday?" Jim asked.

"I said we don't need to, not that we don't like to", Aisha replied with a grin.

"So how much do we have?" Jim asked.

"I've been stacking them in columns of One million Wong" she pointed to the blocked stacks in neat rows along the wall opposite her bed.

"That's a lot of money", Jim said.

"That's an awful lot of money", Aisha Corrected.

"I bet Fred is unhappy" Jim said with a grin

"I do hope so", Aisha said with a smirk on her face Jim had never seen her use before; "I never did like that guy"

"Fred? He can be useful" Jim answered.

"So can a meal worm. Doesn't mean I like that either", Aisha pointed out.

"Fair point", Jim acknowledged "So, you feel like taking a break?"

"You have anything more interesting to do than counting an awful lot of money?" Aisha asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Lunch?" Jim prodded; "Fred's buying"

Jim added grabbing a wad of the uncounted Wong from the cargo bag rather than upset her delicate work. Aisha pondered this then her stomach growled loudly making the decision for her as she finished her latest count at stacked it.

"Actually Lunch does sound good", she said with a small grin.

(000)

Suzuka watched Jim and Aisha depart, she smiled to herself those two were interesting. She knew now that with Gene asleep she had the place virtually to herself, which was an odd feeling. She was about to open her book to read, when she felt a gust of wind, fill the room. She looked up and saw a woman, tall with short-cropped red hair and freckles on her face, and she had a scar under her right eye. She was dressed in sharp white suit pants, with a white blazer and black under blouse. At her waist was a sword sheathed in a scabbard, barring the insignia of her cast.

"Ritsuko", Suzuka said.

"Suzuka" the woman replied.

"If you are here for Gene I am afraid I will have to intervene" Suzuka said seriously her voice deadly low and cold like ice..

"I am not here for him", Ritsuko replied; "I am here for you"

"Me?" Suzuka asked.

"You failed to kill Fred Luo, Suzuka", the woman sighed; "You knew there would be consequences"

Suzuka nodded.

"I did not fail to kill him, I was…side tracked" Suzuka explained.

"And yet he still lives", Ritsuko spoke.

"The Client is dead, is there any more point in his death?" Suzuka asked.

The woman visibly sighed and sat down next to Suzuka.

"It is not for me to question, you know the rules of our clan, the clan accepted the contract the client being dead is irrelevant to our agreement. If Fred Luo lives it is because you failed, if he lives then someone - you must take his place. Your life for his life as is our code" She explained.

"I feared it would come to this, and I feared it would be you. Did you ask for this assignment?" Suzuka asked.

"No", Ritsuko answered; "It was offered to me, and I accepted" she continued.

"Why? I thought you were my friend" Suzuka said and the woman clasped her hand gently. Suzuka returned the action turning her palm up to hold the younger woman's hand.

"I am your friend Suzu. Would you prefer one of the others? Ginji perhaps? At least I will make it quick and painless. You know that, he would make you suffer before you died" Ritsuko said.

Suzuka looked on with an expression of disgust, it was true Ginji was the worst of them, a sadistic sociopath he liked to torture his victims with mind games, driving them insane by killing those around his targets one by one before he would end it. she had heard stories that Ginji once drove a child to commit suicide purely to satisfy his own amusement, amongst other horrors..

"I am curious Suzu", Ritsuko asked changing the subject.

"Hmm?" Suzuka looked up curiously.

"Why did you do it, why betray your clan?" Ritsuko asked.

"I didn't betrayed them!, I never betrayed them or you", Suzuka defended.

"You failed to kill your target. That is the same", Ritsuko

"Only if you see it that way", Suzuka said; "I do not"

"It doesn't matter what I see", Ritsuko replied

"You could tell them you could not find me, or that I am already dead?" Suzuka said

"I could. Is that what you would do if our positions were reversed?" Ritsuko asked.

Suzuka considered this.

"Probably not", she shook her head; "When do you want to do this?".

"Sundown?" Ritsuko asked.

It seemed appropriate, to let Suzuka see her last twilight, she owed her that.

"Sundown", Suzuka repeated in agreement.

Ritsuko turned to look at Suzuka, and Suzuka met her clear blue eyes, they both looked into each other's eyes for a moment, searching for something that neither of them knew.

"I missed you", Ritsuko stated teary.

"I missed you too", Suzuka replied equally emotionally.

They kissed.

(0000)  
Jim belched loudly after stuffing his face. Looking at the empty plates in front of the two of them it was no wonder, they had finished a lot of food.

"I am so stuffed", Jim said.

"Hmm" Aisha said slurping down the last of her soup directly from the bowl and then belching loudly; "Now I am stuffed" she said.

Jim laughed.

"That was a great lunch, we normally can't afford this kind of place", Jim said looking around at the classy restaurant they had ended up at, where the prices were about as high as a street hookers skirt as Gene would put it.

"Well we can get used to this for a while", Aisha said with a grin; "On Fred".

"On Fred", Jim replied sagely. "I don't know though, the way Gene spends money…"

"Point", Aisha said. "Best enjoy it then while we can. Another round?" she asked.

"Waiter!" Jim yelled

(0000)  
Doctor Moore watched her screens with interest, Melfina was strapped down to a bed surrounded by a great many lab technicians who were manning various machines. There were numerous wires connected to her for a myriad of different sensors and a large machine was scanning her with a green looking laser, that pulsed and strobe along her body from her toes to her head and back again.

"Preliminary results?" Moore enquired.

"Looking good, Titanium-G Skeletal structure, she probably has more fibre-optic cable in her than this entire lab. The most interesting thing so far is her advanced bio-nanomachine systems, they seem to form into clusters and act like muscle tissue her skin and a kind of advanced synthetic composite which sends electrical signals through her nanite-clusters into her AI core. She is extraordinarily hardy despite how she looks, it also explains why her reactions are so…. Human like", the technician spoke

"Human like", Moore clarified; "Not Human".

"Indeed. The technology is advanced, she is a work of art really, Khan was well ahead of his time, she is like nothing else I have ever seen", the same man replied.

"Can you reverse engineer the technology?" Moore asked.

"Perhaps, it will be difficult but nothing is impossible given enough time and resources"

"Keep working", Moore ordered; "Alphonse has authorised unlimited resources for this project, use extraordinary measures if you have too"

"I would prefer not to damage her", the scientist replied as he extracted some form of white liquid out of Melfina that passed for blood; "keeping her AI core intact should be a priority"

"I will take it under advisement doctor", Moore replied; "Alphonse is impatient"

"Then tell him to do the damn work himself", the scientist scowled; "Results happen when they happen she is unique we can't afford to damage her"

(0000)

Jim Belched again and groaned, why had he agreed to this, another round was such a bad idea, he looked over at Aisha who was somehow still eating, how did she manage, more than that where did she put it.

"Aisha?" he asked, as she flicked up several dumplings into the air and caught each one, barely touching the sides as she swallowed them whole.

"Yeah?" she said while picking up an egg roll with her chopsticks.

"Can I ask you something?" Jim said looking at her to try and judge her mood.

"Shoot" she said with a smile, scoffing her egg roll in one.

"Will you teach me to fight?" Jim asked.

Aisha almost choked on her egg roll.

"Your serious?" she asked.

Jim nodded vigorously in agreement

"Wouldn't Gene be better to teach you?" Aisha questioned, eyeing the boy carefully as if sizing him up.

"Not really, Gene would just use it as an excuse to kick my arse and pretend he's teaching me something", Jim said. "But I trust you"

Aisha nodded her understanding.

"Okay Jim, then I will happily train you in the way of the C'Tari!" she exclaimed loudly then turned serious. "But I warn you C'Tari training is not easy and is very physically demanding"

"I can do that" Jim nodded.

Aisha smiled and rested her head on her palms with a dopey dreamy look on her face.

"You okay?" Jim asked as she was starring at him

"Hmm" she said; "Just content" she added.

"I haven't seen you like that before", Jim said.

"I haven't been this content in a long time, not since I left the empire" Aisha said. "I guess you just have that effect on me"

Jim blushed.

(0000)  
Gene was asleep on his side, his legs were curled up and he was crying.

"Melfina" Gene said in his sleep, tossing over onto his back flailing his head on his pillow

"Please. Melfina, don't leave me" he cried out, begging her to stop

"MELFINA!" Gene woke up with a start and in a cold sweat, sitting up dead straight bolt upright aiming his shotgun at the doorway until he realised that no one was there and he lowered the weapon with a sigh. He looked out, it was dark; what time was it he wondered, when he heard voices down stairs, one was definitely Suzuka, the other he did not recognise.

Gene moved to the side of his bed taking his other pistol out of a side draw and moving to the door, he was no where near as quiet as Suzuka at this but, he wasn't too bad either. The voices got louder.

"I am sorry it has come to this Suzu", the unknown voice said.

"As am I", Suzuka replied.

"If I had any choice you know I would not be doing this" the other voice, female spoke almost tearfully.

"I understand", Suzuka said.

"Sundown?" the voice asked.

"Indeed" Suzuka replied. "Sundown"

There was nothing left to say.

There was a gust of wind, and then silence, Gene moved down into the main room, Suzuka smiled up at him as he descended the stairs, she seemed happy, cheerful even if one could ever call her that but also he could see the sadness in her eyes. He was about to say something when the door burst open and a very cheerful looking Aisha and Jim entered in a fit of giggles and belches.

"We're back!" they both said.

"Stuffed!" Jim said.

"Utterly stuffed!" Aisha corrected.

They both disappeared into Aisha's room sliding the door shut behind them

Gene looked at the scene oddly; "is it me or are those two more friendly lately?".

Suzuka nodded

"I had noticed it too" she stated.

"You don't think?" Gene asked.

"What?" Suzuka asked nonplussed

"Nah nothing" he said dismissing the thought.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Not as well as I would have hoped" he stated; "but well enough for now"

"Good", she replied

"What time is it?" he asked stretching.

"Just after six" she replied.

"Maybe I did sleep better than I thought" he answered.

"Indeed, you were quite restful" Suzuka stood up and smiled; "if you will excuse me Gene, I have things that I need to put in order"

"Right now?" Gene asked.

"There is never any time as good as now sometimes now is all we have", Suzuka replied

Gene couldn't help but feel like she wasn't telling him everything. Something about the way she said her words told him that who ever her visitor was, had made her happy and sad, had come with news of some kind.

Suzuka looked haunted as she left, Genes eye wondering over her, Gene never brought it up because he was never one to pry into her affairs she was a very private person, When he come to think about it he knew very little about her at all. He didn't know if she had friends or family, or other people she cared about, he'd never seen her go on so much as a date, though being a Class S assassin did tend to lower your pool of potential partners.

He briefly wondered if he loved Suzuka, he pondered that for a moment wondered where it had come from, still it didn't matter anyway, she was cold, aloof and distant there was no doubt about her feelings towards him as far as Gene was concerned, she tolerated him at best. Still, there had to be a reason she stayed other than because she found him to be a simple curiosity.

He sighed, and sat down at the table once more and began field stripping his weapon, weapons were easy. it was all about repetition.

"Screw it", he said standing up and heading out to follow.

(0000)

Suzuka walked though Heifong to the local park; it was a pretty clearing of grass and trees. It reminded her of home. She thought about that, home. It had been a long time since she had even considered home but then home was here now. Before home had been with her parents, before they were killed by the pirates, then home had been with her clan, until she had failed in her contract, now home was with Gene Starwind and his motley crew of outlaws, outcasts and misfits.

Ritsuko coming here had caused Suzuka to think about her past more; they had been inseparable friends and more during their training, then they had drifted apart after they started taking assignments. They had kept in touch some, every so often they would get together and rekindle their relationship briefly before parting ways once more passing ships in the night. Now though it looked like it would end, one way or another one of them would be dead.

Suzuka sighed, she knew that she could not kill her friend, partner, lover, even if her own life depended on her doing so. She smiled sadly, she knew Ritsuko would do it, it would kill her inside and she may never be the same but she would do it, she was always the more dedicated of the two of them.

Suzuka thought back to there training together.

_The area was set into a large courtyard with a wooden flat arena in the middle six meters by six meters square, with four pillars towering up and supporting an elaborate roof structure, surrounding it were a number of cherry blossom trees in full bloom._

_Suzuka and Ritsuko stood on opposite ends of the arena, both had their weapons sheathed and were dressed in Kimono style outfits, Suzuka's was more elaborate and tied with a red sash in the back, where Ritsuko's was more plane white and black tied in the front._

"_This match, will be fought between Suzuka and Ritsuko, to first blood under the eyes of our ancestors whom call to guide our hands", Her master said standing at the edge of the ring, he lowered his hand in a sweeping motion_

_Suzuka and Ritsuko bowed to each other and drew their Bokuto, Suzuka opting for the two handed technique while Ritsuko turned her blade to face backwards the blunt side resting against her shoulder with her arm stretched out. Each walked around the other eyeing them up and down, looking for weakness._

_Ritsuko charged forward, swinging her sword across, Suzuka jumped backwards and the sword passed her harmlessly, Ritsuko tried again this time bringing her sword down slicing through the air, Suzuka moved to the side with her upper body, this repeated several times. Suzuka dodged with lightning reflexes, side to side, side steps, ducking and moving out of the way, it was far from a perfect defence, but certainly an effective one._

_Ritsuko brought her sword down for another go and equally as fast, Suzuka turned the tables parrying the blow with her own blade, taking Ritsuko by complete surprise as she moved into the air performing a spinning scissors kick into her chest and knocking Ritsuko on her rear. Suzuka closed the gap between them lightning fast bringing her training sword down forcing Ritsuko to roll out of the way to avoid the blow and flip to her feet._

_Suzuka unleashed a flurry of quick strikes with her sword, cutting through the air, forcing Ritsuko onto the defensive who parried them away each one at a time while dodging those she couldn't._

_The Master smiled at his two best students as they fought, it was impressive to watch them use the techniques that he had taught but also so much more than that. He watched the fight with pride as it ebbed back and for, it flowed like water across a smooth lake from one move into another, from attack to defence and back again. Both were extremely skilled and neither could penetrate the others defence enough to overwhelm and win the match._

_The Master raised his hand into the air and both opponents stopped and looked at him._

"_This match is a draw", he said bowing to each in turn, and they bowed to him and then each other._

"_That was a good work out, not bad Suzu", Ritsuko said with a smile_

"_Likewise", Suzuka said as the other woman put her arm around her._

Suzuka sighed, they had always been an equal match for each other but she knew that she had slowed down since then, since living with Gene she had not practised her craft a much as she should. She wondered what was someone supposed to do when they knew they were going to die, she had no affects or few that were not on her person, she had no family to survive her or kin to mourn her. Suzuka frowned for the first time that actually bothered her, she wondered if she should have done more with her life. She was usually so focused but now it seemed her emotions had got the best of her.

She mused to herself knowing that only Gene could make her feel this way, make her so confused with her own self, She wondered why, why did she feel for him like this? He couldn't even begin to be 'her type' as she had thought of it but then, Suzuka never even considered any relationship at all, with anyone, She could never let herself get close to anyone really before now except Ritsuko and even then the consequences could be so high, time had proved that.

She couldn't decide what was worse, having your lover find out what you did for a living and leaving you, or someone else finding out about your lover and killing them in revenge for something you did.

However Gene knew about her past and accepted it and still wanted to be her friend, he knew how many people's lives she had taken away with a swipe of her sword yet still, he allowed her to be close to him. Suzuka could not quite understand why, it was like something tugging on the edges of her mind but never making it into her mental plate.

Then suddenly it hit her.

Did he know? had he figured out how she truly felt about him? That she really did love him and would do anything for him and if he did, did he feel the same way about her? She shook her head. It wasn't possible. Why was she even thinking that, he had his doll anyway, right now she was missing but they would get her back, so even if he did feel something for her isn't it all just pointless anyway. She made her way back to the clearly slowly walking as it was getting late and would be sundown soon, she would face her fate eyes open and her sins accounted for.

(0000)  
The afternoon Jim and Aisha were both in the back room, it was the largest and Gene had turned it into a fitness gym to help him keep in shape. Aisha and Jim had cleared a space for them to train. Jim was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a white T-shirt. Aisha was in a pair of black shorts, with a stripe down the side and a sports bra, without the elaborate gear she usually wore Jim could sea the C'Tari markings and tribal tattoos she bore, as well as scars from her fight with Iruga.

"Right" she said; "Take that off for a start".

"What?" Jim stuttered, then blushed as he took his shirt off; "Why do I have to take my shirt off exactly?"

"C'Tari martial arts is very physical and requires mobility, that shirt would just be too restrictive for training", she said professionally; "Look at my clothes for example"

Jim blushed he had been trying not to look

"Jim", Aisha said shaking her head, "Look at me?"

He did so reluctantly but was still staring at her feet

"You don't like the way I look?" she asked nervously

"No, not that at all you look great!" he protested; "its just well, I've not been around many girls with such little clothing on"

"Does it bother you?" she asked shifted her weight to her other foot.

"Not really, its just well, it will take me a while to get used to", Jim said with a smile.

"Well I can't teach you if you're not willing to look at me", she said.

"Right", Jim said, as he forced himself to look up at Aisha and smiled at her.

"Isn't that better?" she asked.

"Yeah" he answered; "I like your tattoos" he said pointing out a long chain of marks and lettering on her ribs; "Where did you get them?"

"They are from my clan, given to me at maturity so any C'Tari that saw them would know my family line, it helps when selecting a life mate" she said. "People look at your blood line and see who your ancestors are, if you have a good line then a mate will be more likely to bare strong children"

"This one is my mother" she said pointing out one of them at the bottom "she became a tribal elder and this one is her mother and so on, in fact you can trace my line right up to a paragon. Paragon Lady Tasuka, I'm good stock"

Aisha had a big grin..

"What's a paragon?" Jim asked.

"A paragon is an ancestor who has contributed to the C'Tari empire or our culture in a significant and or meaningful way, there are only one or two paragons in every generation of C'Tari" Aisha explained; "Paragons are usually only ornate after death, a living paragon is extremely rare"

"Why?" Jim asked.

Aisha stretched and he started copying her.

"A paragon is honoured and revered to C'Tari, they are our spiritual leaders, all C'Tari look to them to guide us and seek there wisdom, A paragons word and wisdom is valued even above an emperors that's an awful lot to put on a living person", Aisha explained.

"You mean a paragon could overrule the Emperor of the C'Tari?" Jim asked surprised as Aisha took a basic combat pose.

"Absolutely" Aisha said; "the people would follow the a paragon", she added starting some basic combat drills that Jim copied.

"Okay now Jim" Aisha said as she stood behind him, dropping to one knee to adjust his posture. "The most important thing about C'Tari fighting is your balance"

(0000)

Suzuka arrived in the Forrest clearing on the outskirts of Heifong, it was a fairly open area but was fenced by tree's of multiple types, mostly oaks but also willow and red Acers. Suzuka mused that it was a nice spot, at least if she was going to die it would be with nature around her not in the middle of urban sprawl.

Ritsuko was leaning against one of the trees.

"So you came", she said

Suzuka joined her.

"Of course, saves you the trouble of hunting me down" she said, taking the other woman's hand who returned the sign of affection clasping Suzuka's hand tightly.

"I thought you might run, part of me hoped that you would", Ritsuko said.

"I can understand that", Suzuka said; "is there no other way?"

Despite her calm and distant personality towards most events, Suzuka did not want to die.

"The rules are quite specific", Ritsuko said; "Sadly, life for life mine or yours, the code has to be satisfied."

"I just wish it didn't have to be you", Suzuka said sadly.

"Me too" Ritsuko said.

"Lets get this over with", Suzuka said pulling her friend gently into the clearing; reluctantly letting go of her hand as they each took a fighting stance.

"Ready?" Ritsuko asked.

"Ready?" Suzuka said nodding

"Ho, Ho, Ho" came a male voice.

It was then that Gene Starwind walked out from behind one of the trees with a cocky sway. Gene was dressed in his old outfit, black vest and cargo pants with large overcoat, he was holding an incredibly large barrelled weapon over his shoulder with a thick ammunition drum attached to it forward of the trigger, he had to be a shotgun of some kind Suzuka guessed. Over his shoulder was a rocket launcher attached to a two-point sling, wrapped around his waist was an old cowboy belt holster with massive .454 slugs tucked into the bandoleer loops, inside the holster on his hip was a large silver pistol; one that Suzuka had never seen before. On the other hip was his usual shot-barrelled shotgun, and she assumed he had a shoulder holster too that would each contain a semi-automatic pistol and his Caster Gun.

"Gene…what are you…" she started but he cut her off.

"Suzuka's life belongs to me", Gene stated, to the red haired woman' "I claim the right of substitution", Gene said.

"You would fight in her place?" Ritsuko asked.

"Life for Life. My Life, for hers" Gene began. "You kill me, her debt is paid, I Kill you and her debt is cleaned", Gene said; "That satisfy your code lady?"

"It would" Ritsuko nodded.

"Gene, you can't do this, you don't know what she is capable of doing", Suzuka protested.

"Never give up. Fight until the end. Always believe that you will succeed, even when the odds are against you even if I die. as a soldier I still win as long as I accomplish my objective" Gene said with a smile that seemed older than the universe; "Gene Starwind protects his women!"

Gene cocked his gun.

**Authors Notes:** This chapter has not been independently pre-read.


End file.
